If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

On my NX250 when below 50 I use a 2/3 KAQ lost river underquilt.
If its really cold I add the Z liner foot end.
I was at the Jersey Winter Hammock Hang of 2013 and it was 2-6 degrees F a couple of nights and I was toasty warm using both the UQ and the Zliner.
Had some issue with the outside of the clark being covered with frost, but then again, it was 2 degrees with a warm body inside!!!
But normally like I said, if summer hiking above 50 I dont bring any UQ, just the pockets is enough

MML--The Man, The Myth, and the Legend

"I am the eagle, I live in high country, in rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky;
I am the hawk and there's blood on my feathers, but time is still turning they soon will be dry;
All those who see me, and all who believe in me, share in the freedom I feel when I fly.”
John Denver--1943-1997

The pockets of the NX250 DO NOT have overlapping baffles, so I experienced rather severe cold spots at the edges of each pad and especially at the center corner intersections of the Z-Liner pads. Plus the pads don't hold their shape within the pockets, so they collapse away from the baffles, leaving even bigger cold spots.

I returned my Z-Liner for a full refund. At the time I did suggest that they construct the pockets so that the edges of the pads could overlap.

The pockets and pads are a great idea, but they are (or weren't a few months ago) constructed for maximum efficiency.

[QUOTE=Oblique Angler;970271]I seem to recall there has been some talk about DIY Z Liners, and modifying sleeping bags into Underquilts. What is the top to bottom height of the NX pockets? Do the pockets have room for more loft than an UQ? When stuffed with insulation, do the pockets overlap like slant-baffles in a good sleeping bag?QUOTE]

Originally Posted by siskiyousummit

The pockets of the NX250 DO NOT have overlapping baffles, so I experienced rather severe cold spots at the edges of each pad and especially at the center corner intersections of the Z-Liner pads. Plus the pads don't hold their shape within the pockets, so they collapse away from the baffles, leaving even bigger cold spots.Jim

For just the reasons that Jim has stated, I have delayed buying the Z-liner.
As for size - 4 of the pockets are 13" x 24". 2 pockets are 15" x 24". The Clark Z-liners will leave room for additional items in the pockets. I think I read a comment once that said the Z-liner pads were about 1" thick. A DIY Z-liner, constructed with 2 or 3 inches of loft, might overcome the problems of shifting and cold spots at the edges - but would come at the price of weight and bulk. The Clark foot piece still looks like a good design to me. But for now I am just using a full length single layer Poncho Liner UQ

"...With saddle and pack, by paddle and track, let's go to the land of beyond."

Search deeper here or in the DIY Forum. The founder of Kick *** Quilts sewed up a set of down-filled pads for an NX250. (ISTR that four of the pockets are the same size, and just two of them smaller). Yes, the pockets are pleated, so the have a height of about 2". IIRC, the owner, who wrote the specs for the job wished he had made the pillows / pads a little larger.

Bradley in this Forum also made his own pads and a video of them.

Clark surely tried to size the pads of the Z liner optimally. But, then again they seem to have stopped with just one layer of 5oz Climashield. More would have been very bulky, and not many camp in the cold of winter.

A serious DIY effort would start too big, and with pins, and then cut down insulation and re-pin to fit before the final sewing.